Category Archives: Trade Secrets

On May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), which went into effect immediately. The DTSA will haveamajor impact on intellectual property law and also has implications related to employees and independent contractors. Although the DTSA contains elements similar to the Uniform Trade Secret Act adopted in some form by every state except for New York and Massachusetts, there are notable differences. For example, the DTSA creates a federal private/civil cause of action for trade secret misappropriation. Previously, federal law only provided for criminal actions brought by the government. Available remedies include injunctive relief, exemplary damages in addition to actual damages, and attorneys’ fees. The DTSA also allows for civil seizure of an opponent’s property in extraordinary circumstances. These remedies could provide powerful tools for trade secret protection.

The DTSA provision of most immediate concern is the required employee notice of civil and criminal immunity for whistleblowers who disclose trade secrets to government officials for the purpose of reporting a suspected violation of law. The immunity also protects disclosures to attorneys or in sealed court filings. In order to comply with the DTSA, all agreements with employees, independent contractors or consultants covering trade secrets or confidential information must include notice of the DTSA’s whistleblower safe harbors and immunity. Although the DTSA requires that an employer provide notice of the whistleblower immunity in any agreement with an employee that governs the use of a trade secret or other confidential information, the act defines “employee” to include any individual performing work as a contractor or consultant. Compliance can be achieved by including specific language in the agreement or providing a cross reference to an existing whistleblower policy document, such as an employee handbook. Failure to include the required notice in employment agreements results in the employer losing the right to recover attorneys’ fees or exemplary damages from the employee.

Employers should take the following steps to comply with the DTSA:

All agreements concerning trade secrets or confidential information should be revised. This likely includes employment agreements, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, contractor agreements, severance or separation agreements, and more. The DTSA notice provision applies to agreements entered into or updated after May 11, 2016.

Employers may want to consider changing forum selection clauses in any contract affected by the DTSA. Having federal and state court options could be beneficial in a trade secret or other employment dispute.

Contractor or consulting agreements should be amended so that the service provider is required to notify its employees of the DTSA’s whistleblower protections.

Additional compliance issues may arise as case law develops and companies adjust to the DTSA’s requirements.

Most companies routinely perform inventory audits of their physical assets…but — even though it’s not always on the radar — performing audits of intangible assets is equally (and perhaps even more) important.

The objective of an IP audit is to identify and protect intellectual property assets that provide you with a competitive advantage and promote the goodwill of your business. By creating a process to identify and take steps to protect intellectual property at least once a year (and perhaps more frequently if IP is a major component of your business), you can ensure that valuable assets are not made public, or otherwise lost or compromised, prior to taking the appropriate actions to protect them. An intellectual property audit and due diligence review should also be performed in connection with mergers and acquisitions and other buy/sell transactions, as well as financing transactions that affect IP assets.

Typical intellectual property assets include product, service and company names and logos (trademarks), website content, written materials, and creative works (copyrights), formulas, processes, product designs and inventions (patents), and proprietary customer lists and other confidential information, such as pricing data and vendor information (trade secrets). Depending on your industry and the types of products and services you offer, there may be other intellectual property assets to consider. These items should be identified and reviewed on a regular basis.

An audit should include a variety of information, such as:

Name/Description of IP – Identification of mark or domain name, title of copyright or patent

When/How/Where the IP Has Been Used – Dates of first use/publication, where/how IP used/published, U.S./International use, and any licenses or agreements regarding the IP

Chain of Title – IP owner(s), list of all IP transfers, note any transfers that have not been recorded, note any gaps in the record of ownership

Once your intellectual property has been itemized, you should determine whether any additional protections or updates to existing protections are necessary. You should also review company policies and agreements with employees, independent contractors and licensees regarding the creation, use and protection of your (or third party) IP assets, as well as confidentiality and non-compete protections. Additionally, your social media, website and insurance policies should be reviewed, as well as your advertising and marketing materials. You may also consider whether you need to implement systems to monitor unauthorized use of your IP assets by others and address how to approach infringement scenarios.

Internal IP audits are a great start, but you should consider consulting with an IP attorney to ensure all of your IP has been identified and is protected.

In early 2011, the public radio show This American Life created an international media frenzy when it revealed what it believed to be the original recipe for Coca-Cola.

The “secret formula” for Coca-Cola — which has been locked away in a bank vault at the Trust Company Bank in Atlanta since at least 1925 — is one of the most famous and highly guarded trade secrets in the world. Supposedly, only two company executives know the recipe at any one time and they are never allowed to fly on an airplane together in case of a crash. (For more on the rumors and lore surrounding Coke’s secret formula, visit urban myth-busing website Snopes.com.) So, after 125 years of secrecy, how did a public radio show get hold of such a well-protected and highly-coveted corporate gem? Did This American Life break into the vault or kidnap and tickle-torture one of the two executives until he talked? No. They opened a newspaper. Apparently, the photo used to illustrate the story published in TheAtlanta Journal and Constitution on February 18, 1979, was a hand-written copy of (Coke’s inventor) John Pemberton’s recipe circa 1886. Talk about adding insult to injury!

This American Life has clarified its position on the recipe printed in the paper, stating that it believes the recipe is Pemberton’s original recipe or a version of Coca-Cola that he made either before or after the product hit the market in 1886, and not the recipe used today. Perhaps this is because they tested the recipe and determined that it wasn’t quite the same as the Coca-Cola we know today, and, of course, The Coca-Cola Company denies that the secret is out.

Although you may not go to quite the lengths taken by The Coca-Cola Company to protect your trade secrets, you should consider what measures (if any) you are taking to safeguard your “information, including a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process that: (i) derives independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and (ii) is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.” (Definition from Uniform Trade Secrets Act.)

Trade secrets — which often include recipes, sales methods, distribution methods, consumer profiles, advertising strategies, lists of suppliers and clients, and manufacturing processes — provide an enterprise a competitive edge and can last for as long as they are kept secret. So, you would never want to include your trade secrets in a copyright or patent application, as they will be disclosed once the application or registration is published.

Although whether something truly constitutes a trade secret will depend on the circumstances of each individual case, for something to qualify and be protected as a trade secret:

The information must be secret (i.e., it is not generally known among, or readily accessible to, circles that normally deal with the type of information in question).

It must have commercial value because it is a secret.

It must have been subject to reasonable steps by the rightful holder of the information to keep it secret (e.g., through confidentiality agreements).